The Royal Scandal *Book One*

The Questing Beast S1 E13

Once I got on Cinnamon, we galloped all the way out of the city only to find that we had beaten Arthur. So I had no choice but to sit there and wait. I mean, it's not like I could even get a head start because to be frank with you, I have no idea where I would be going.

I waited a couple minutes before I heard the sound of hoofs coming towards us. This was them. Before they reached me I rode out into the road so that I was at the front.

"Though you got lost," I teased them when I said Arthur up at the front with Merlin.

"How could I possibly get lost?" Arthur asked.

"Arthur, this is you we're talking about. You're capable of anything," I said.

"Is not sure whether I should take that last bit as a compliment or an insult," Arthur replied.

"I can't believe you let Chelsea come," Merlin interrupted, glancing at me nervously.

"You should know by now, Merlin, that my sister is one of the most stubborn people in the world and I already knew that she would want to come with us so there was no point in arguing against it," Arthur explained, and behind us I could hear some of the other knights humming in agreement.

"There's a difference between being stubborn and being determined," I told Arthur.

"Yes, and you are stubborn," Arthur said, causing Merlin to chuckle.

"I'm not stubborn," I informed them.

"Ok, accept that you are and then it will prove you're not," Merlin said.

"What? That doesn't make any sense," I complained.

"Ok, you two. Stop with the yapping. We're almost here," Arthur said.

Merlin and I stopped talking but I could see Merlin still smirking. Clearly he thought that his last statement was smart; it wasn't.

As we approached the centre of the woods, we all got off our horses and began to walk around.

"Chelsea," Arthur began.

"Arthur," I mocked him.

"Be careful. I want you to always stick with one of us so that you are safer," Arthur told me.

"I can look after myself you know," I commented.

"I'm sure you can, but not today. Merlin-" Arthur began, but we could both see where he was going.

"You're on Chelsea duty," Merlin finished. "Got it."

Merlin came and stood next to me smiling.

"It's been a while since I was put on an official Chelsea duty," Merlin muttered to me.

"Merlin, shut up," Arthur whisper yelled from over by a tree.

"Yeah, Merlin. Shut up," I teased.

I then saw Arthur bend down and look at something. Merlin and I shared a glance before walking over to see what it was.

When I looked down, I saw a massive footprint embedded in the ground.

"Let's follow the trail," Arthur decided.

We all looked ahead and saw that it was dark and misty. In the distance I was sure that I could hear the creature but I wasn't too sure.

"Keep close," Arthur ordered us as we began to trek forward.

All of the knights got out a sword giving me the signal to get my bow ready. All prepared for battle, I looked over at Merlin and saw him standing there strangely calm.

"Are you seriously going in there defenceless?" I asked.

"Merlin doesn't need a weapon to fight off the beast, his face should do that for him," Arthur laughed.

"Then why the hell are you carrying a sword and making us come with you? Your face and not to mention, your body odour is enough to kill anyone or anything within a hundred yards," I countered.

"Then how are we alive?" Alistair asked.

"Well, you knights are still alive because your heads are so big that the odour and the sight of his face is too weak to penetrate the brain and as for me. Well, I'm just too amazing," I shrugged.

Arthur laughed that I had managed to insult all the knights even though it was by accusing him of having a horrific face and smell.

We followed the sound of the beast to a cave where Arthur signalled for us to enter quietly. Once inside the cave, Arthur, Merlin and I split off from the other knights and went to the left while they went to the right.

As we walked through it, our footsteps echoed off the walls no matter how quietly we tried to walk. We went deeper and deeper into the cave, each time it got darker and harder to see.

A few minutes into our search, I heard a crack under my shoe. We all looked down and saw that he thing I had stood on was a bone. Merlin lowered their flame he was holding to the ground and we saw that the whole floor was scattered with human and animal bones.

Suddenly there was a hissing sound from the shadows.

"What is it?" Merlin asked.

"Shh," Arthur shushed him.

Behind us there was a sudden low growling that caused us to all spin round. There was nothing there.

Instead, we soon realised, the questing beast was now behind us, coming out from the shadows.

It roared loudly at us so I raised my bow and awaited Arthur's instructions.

"Chelsea, get back and shoot," Arthur ordered.

I immediately did that. I took a few steps back and began firing arrows at the beast while Arthur tried to hit it with the sword and Merlin held up the flame.

However the arrows and the sword didn't seem to be doing much damage to the beast and my guess was that we needed magic to kill it.

I was snapped out of my thoughts though, when I saw Arthur get clawed by the beast and thrown across the room.

"Arthur!" I yelled, running over to him.

I knelt down next to him and saw that he had a deep cut in his chest. Gaius said that if we were bitten you would die, he didn't say anything about a scratch or a cut.

I then heard Merlin yelling and saw that the beast was coming towards Arthur and I.

Using all my concentration and energy, I tried to use the small amount of magic I had to get the beast away from us. Did it work? Nope, not in the slightest.

The beast kept on coming towards us but luckily for me, Merlin was on Chelsea duty. This meant that he had been watching me and therefore was able to mutter a spell that would enchant the sword and make it kill the beast.

And that is exactly what it did. It flew into the air and stabbed the beast so it fell to the ground dead.

I turned back to Arthur and tried to bandage up his cut with my cloak. It wasn't really working but at least it was stopping the blood coming out too much.

"It didn't bite him," Merlin muttered more to himself than me.

"It didn't," I confirmed.

Merlin looked down at my hands and I knew why. They were now completely covered in Arthur's blood.

"Somebody help us!" Merlin yelled out to the knights.

Some knights heard the call and came running to us. Together we all got Arthur onto a horse and we began our journey home.

Arthur was cut, not bitten. He can't die from that, can he?